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In Memorial of
Harold Johnson Fortest and Tree Wise is the person who sees the forest May we then in living life (Participant
58215) |
History of Surnames
A family Name
or
surname, is that part of a person's name that indicates to what family
he or she belongs. In English one's family name is generally written after
one's given name, leading to the term last name. The word
"surname", used by speakers of British English, is "name"
prefixed by the French word sur, which derives from Latin super. It was
sometimes spelled sirname and sirename because of the paternal origin. In the 19th
century, Francis Galton published a statistical study of the extinction of
family names. See Galton-Watson process for an account of some of the
mathematics. The origin of
family names is area-dependent. In Europe, family names indicated some
feature of a person, such as their occupation, their place of origin, their
social status or their parent's name: "Robert Smith" would be short
for "Robert the smith"; "Mary Windsor" would be short for
"Mary of Windsor", "Mark Johnson" would be short for "Mark,
son of John", "Richard Freeman" would be "Richard the
freeman", etc. In the
Americas, the family names of many black people have their origins in slave
names. It should be noted that many of these names were chosen by freed
slaves themselves, who sometimes chose the name of their former master. Some
people, such as Muhammad Ali, have chosen to change their name rather than
live with a name thought to have been given by a slave owner. Family names
are not universal. In particular, Tibetans and Javanese often do not use a
family name — well-known people lacking a family name include Suharto and
Sukarno. Also, many royal families do not use family names. It is a common
practice for a woman to change her family name to that of her husband when
she marries. Some countries (for example Japan) do not allow a wife to have a
different family name than her husband. Other countries permit wives to have
a different name, but provide incentives for changing. Still other countries
allow for a man to take the wife's name. Some people choose to take a
double-barrelled name, combining both family names, joined by a hyphen. Take a look at a
Johnson Surname Origin-Report By Bill Johnson
English- and
French-speaking countries
In English-,
Dutch-, German- and French-speaking countries (e.g., U.S., U.K., Australia,
Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany), people often have two or more
given names (first and middle), and the family name goes at the end, which is
why it's sometimes called a "last name." The last name is usually
the father's family name, although in the United Kingdom the parents are
legally free to choose any surname when the child's birth is registered.
Occasionally, a hyphenation of both parents' last names is used, this is
referred to as a "double-barrelled surname". It has long
been the custom for women to give up their family name (called the birth name
or maiden name) upon marriage, and to use their husband's last name in its
place. In recent years, more women have chosen to keep their birth name when
they are married. Still, even in families where the wife has kept her birth
name, parents often choose to give their children their father's family name.
It is
extremely rare for men in Western countries to take the name of their wives;
this was chiefly done in the Middle Ages, when the man was from a low-born
family and was marrying an only daughter, and was thus designated to carry on
his wife's family name. In the 18th and 19th centuries in Britain, bequests
were sometimes made contingent upon a man changing (or hyphenating) his name,
so that the name of the legator continued. Now, some men choose to take their
wives' names rather than the reverse. A married couple may also choose a new
last name rather than that of either the husband or the wife. In civil law
jurisdictions such as France or Quebec, name change upon marriage is no
longer recognized. Those who wish to change their name upon marriage must
follow the same legal procedure as would be used under any other
circumstance. Otherwise, although one may use a married name, one's legal
name remains unchanged. In some
jurisdictions, contrariwise, it used to be the case that the woman's legal name
changed automatically upon marriage. This is no longer the case in most
jurisdictions; now, women may easily change to their married name, though it
is no longer automatic. In some jurisdictions, civil rights lawsuits were
used to change the law so that men could easily change to a married name,
too. In France,
until January 1, 2005, children were required by law to take the surname of
their father. From this date, article 311-21 of the French Civil code permits
parents to give their children either the name of their father, mother, or a
hyphenation of both - although no more than 2 names can be hyphenatated. In
cases of disagreement the father's name applies [1]
(http://www2.cnrs.fr/presse/communique/601.htm). This brought France into
line with a 1978 declaration by the Council of Europe requiring member
governments to take measures to adopt quality of rights in the transmission
of family names, a measure that was echoed by the United Nations in 1979.
Similar measures were adopted by Germany (1976), Sweden (1982), Denmark
(1983) and Spain (in 1999). Ireland
In areas where
certain family names are extremely common, extra names are added that
sometimes follow this archaic pattern. In Ireland, for example, where
"Murphy" is an exceedingly common name, particular Murphy families
or extended families are nicknamed, so that Denis Murphy's family were called
"The Weavers" and Denis himself was called Denis "The
Weaver" Murphy. see also: O'Hay Irish surname
prefixes: Spain and
Hispanic areas
In ancient
times, a patronymic system similar to the one still used in Iceland was
commonly used. For example Alvaro son of Rodrigo would be named Alvaro
Rodríguez. A son of the same man named Juan, would not be named Juan
Rodríguez, but Juan Alvarez. Over time many of these patronymics have become
family names and are some of the most common names in the Spanish speaking
world. Other sources of surnames are personal appearance or habit: Delgado
(thin), Moreno (dark). Occupations: Molina (miller), Guerrero (warrior).
Geographic location or ethnicity: Alemán (German). In Spain and countries of
Hispanic culture (former Spanish colonies), each person has two family names:
the first is the first (paternal) family name of the father; the second is
the first family name of the mother; Depending on the country, these may or
may not be linked by the conjunction "y" (and) or "de"
(of). When a woman marries, she will either add her husband's paternal
surname to the end of her name or, more commonly, replace her maternal
surname with her husbands paternal surname often linked with "de".
Thus a woman names Ana de la Garza Díaz who marries a man named Juan Guerrero
Macías would be known as Ana de la Garza Díaz de Guerrero or more commonly,
de la Garza de Guerrero. Their children would carry the surname Guerrero de
la Garza. In Spain, married women keep their two family names intact. The
tradition is gradually disappearing in favor of a paternal last name. Portugal and
Brazil
The Portuguese
position is the reverse of the Spanish one. Each person has at least two
family names: the first is the second family name of the mother; the second
is the second family name of the father. A person can have up to six names
(two first names and four surnames - he or she may have two names from the
mother and two from the father). In Brazil the rule is the same except that
it is now very common for a person to have only one family name: the second
family name of the father. In the ancient ages the patronymicum was commonly
used - surnames like Gonçalves (son of Gonçalo), Fernandes (son of Fernando),
Nunes (son of Nuno) and many more are used today as usual family names. Iceland
Main article:
Naming conventions of Iceland In Iceland,
most people have no family name; a person's last name is a patronymic, i.e.,
is a modified form of the father's first name or, sometimes, the mother's.
For example, when a man called Karl has a daughter called Anna and a son
called Magnús, their names will be Anna Karlsdóttir ("daughter of
Karl") and Magnús Karlsson ("son of Karl"). Scandinavia
In
Scandinavia, particularly in Sweden, family names often, but certainly not
always, originate from a patronymic. These family names are today passed on
similarly to family names in other western countries. Karlsson for example
means Karl's son, but today Karlsson is a family name, and a person's father
doesn't have to be called Karl if he or she has the surname Karlsson. In
Denmark and Norway family names ending with -sen are common. Karlsen for
example means Karl's son. Noble persons in Sweden often have family names
referring to their coat of arms. Before the 19th century there was the same
system in Scandinavia as in Iceland today, but not everyone had a patronymic.
Family names such as Bergman, Holmberg and Lindgren, were quite frequent and
remain common today. India and
Indonesia
Main article:
Indian family name Similar patronymic
customs exist in some parts of India and Indonesia. However, many Indians
(from India) living in English-speaking countries give up on this tradition
because many English speakers so consistently misunderstand the custom;
therefore many Indian fathers simply follow the English-speaking custom to
pass on their last name instead of their first. Russia and
Ukraine
In Russia,
names are typically written with both family name and patronymic, a modified
version of the father's name. For example, in the name "Lev Ivanovich
Chekhov," "Chekhov" is the family name or surname whereas
"Ivanovich" is the patronymic; we can infer that Lev's father was
named "Ivan". The same is true in Ukraine. A different suffix is
used for women's names. Where a son whose father's name is Ivan will be
called Ivanovich, a daughter will be called Ivanovna. China, Hungary,
Japan, and Korea
Main articles:
Chinese family name, Korean name#Family names and Japanese name In other
cultures, like Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Hungarian, the family name is
placed before the given names. So the terms "first name" and
"last name" carry opposite meanings when used outside of English
speaking cultures. In many non-English-speaking countries, names are referred
to as surname and given name to avoid ambiguity. Some Chinese add a Christian
name in front of their Chinese name, so an example would be is Martin LEE
Chu-ming. In addition, many Chinese Americans have an English name which is
commonly used and a Chinese name which is used as a middle name, that is to
say, Martin Chu-ming Lee. Chinese living in the US are willing to rearrange
their names when written in English to avoid misunderstanding. However, no
one in China would rearrange Mao Zedong into Zedong Mao in English writings. In English
writings originating from non-English cultures (e.g. English newspapers in
China), the surname is often written with all capital letters to avoid being
mistaken as the middle name: "Martin LEE Chu-ming" (this practice
is common on the Internet), or in small capitals (except the first letter),
as "Martin LEE Chu-ming" (this is more common in books) or
AKUTAGAWA, Ryunosuke to make clear which one is the family name, particularly
often in mass-media reporting international events like the Olympic Games.
The CIA World Factbook
(http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html) stated
that "The Factbook capitalizes the surname or family name of individuals
for the convenience of [their] users who are faced with a world of different
cultures and naming conventions." On the contrary, the English Wikipedia
follows a strict guideline on not to use all capital family names (the
Esperanto Wikipedia (http://eo.wikipedia.org/), for example, often
capitalizes family names regardless of the country of origin of the person
who bears the name). As a result, non-English names appearing in Wikipedia
articles are ambiguous to most laymen. For example, Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing
might be mistaken as Mr. Wing by readers unaware of Chinese naming
conventions. In Japan, a
convention that a man uses his wife's family name if the wife is an only
child is sometimes observed. A similar tradition called ru zhui (??) is
common among Chinese when the bride's family is wealthy and has no son but
wants the heir to pass on their assets under the same family name. It is
worth noting that the Chinese character zhui (?) carries a money radical (?),
which implies that this tradition was originally based on financial reasons.
All their offspring will carry the mother's family name. Usually the groom or
his family would not agree with such arrangement if he were the first born
who has an obligation to carry his own ancestor's name. In such situation, a
compromise may be reached in that the first male child would carry the
mother's family name while the other offspring carry the father's family
name. The tradition is still in use in many Chinese communities outside of
mainland China. Under Mao Zedong's communist rule, Chinese citizens had no
personal assets to pass to their heirs. Such tradition might have become
unnecessary. With Chinese economic reform, it is uncertain if such tradition
returned to China. In Japan,
women surrender their surnames upon marriage, and use the surnames of their
husbands. In Hong Kong, mainland China, Korea and Taiwan, women would kept
their own surnames, while the family as a whole would be referred by the
surnames of the husbands. In Hong Kong,
some women would be known to the public with the surnames of their husbands preceding
their own surnames, such as Anson Chan Fang On Sang. Anson is an English
given name, On Sang is the given name in Chinese, Chan is the surname of
Anson's husband, and Fang is her own surname. A name change on legal
documents is not a must. In Macau, some
people have their names in Portuguese spelt with some Portuguese style, such
as Carlos do Rosario Tchiang (http://carlos.com.hk/carlos.htm). Chinese women
in Canada, especially Hongkongers in Toronto, would preserve their maiden
names before the surnames of their husbands when written in English, for
instance Rosa Chan Leung, where Chan is the maiden name, and Leung is the
surname of the husband. Romania
In Romania
family names traditionally have an English-like usage: a child inherits his
father's family name, and a wife takes her husband's last name. There are
however exceptions and social pressure to follow this tradition is not
particularly strong in most families. Romanian
names' etymologies are mixed. Sometimes, family names denote some ancestor's
occupation (for example Butnaru meaning 'barrel-maker'), sometimes a
genitor's name - notably, there are common family names deriving from a
woman's name, hence the mother's name (e.g. Amarandei, '[son or
daughter]-of-[S]maranda'). It should be
noted that the first name/last name distinction is not clear in Romanian
culture. While the ordering of given name first, family name second is always
used in media, from literature to television, the opposite order is used in
all official documents, ostensibly for filing purposes. Since bureaucracy is
very pervasive in Romania, a Romanian will often instinctively start with his
family name when introducing himself, especially in any 'official' context
(this includes, for example, a student signing an occasional test paper in
school). You will not, however, hear someone refer to a poet or a politician
this way. In Romanian
the words "nume de familie" (literally "family name") and
"prenume" (for one's given name) are used instead of the
first/second name convention. Jewish names
Until a few
hundred years ago, Jews followed no tradition of family names, but used
patronymics within the synagogue, and matronymics in other venues. For
example, a boy named Joseph of a father named Isaac would be called to the
Torah as Joseph ben Isaac. That same boy of a mother named Rachel would be
known in business as Joseph ben Rachel. A male used the Hebrew word
"ben" (son) and a female "bat" (daughter). When northern
European countries legislated that Jews required "proper" surnames,
Jews were left with a number of options. Many Jews (particularly in Austria,
Prussia and Russia) were forced to adopt Germanic names. Joseph II issued a
law in 1787 which assumed that all Jews were to adopt German names. The city
mayors were to chose the name for every Jewish family. For names related to
precious metals and flowers a fee was gathered, the free of charge surnames
were usually connected to animals and common metals. Many took Yiddish names
derived from occupation (e.g. Goldstein, 'Gold-smith'), from their father
(e.g. Jacobson), or from location (e.g. Berliner, Warszawski or Pinsker). In Prussia
special military commissions were created to chose the names. It became
common that the poorer Jews were forced to adopt derogatory, offensive or
simply bizarre names. Among those created by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann
were: *
Ochsenschwanz - Oxtail The Jews of
Poland adopted names much earlier. Those who were adopted by a szlachta
family usually changed the name to that of the family. Christened Jews
usually adopted either a common Polish name or a name created after the month
of their baptism (that's why many Frankists adopted the name Majewski - after
the month of May in 1759). Western Jews
today may have complete Western names as well as Jewish names, reflecting the
ancient patronymic/matronymic pattern, for use only in the synagogue. Polish names
In Poland and
most of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the surnames first appeared
in late Middle Ages. Initially their purpose was to denote the differences
between various people living in the same town or village and bearing the
same name. Initially the surnames used were simple nouns denoting the
occupation (Karczmarz - Innkeeper, Kowal - Blacksmith, Bednarczyk - Young
Cooper), descent (patronymic names like Szczepaniak - Son of Szczepan,
Józefski - Son of Józef or Kazmirkiewicz - Son of Kazimierz) or a feature
(Nowak - the new one, Bialy - the pale one, Mazur the one from Masovia or
Wielgus - the big one). Since the
early 16th century geographical names became common, especially among the
szlachta. Initially the surnames were in a form of Jan z Kolna (meaning John
of Kolno), later most of the surnames were changed to adjective forms (Jakub
Wislicki - James of Wisla, Zbigniew Olesnicki - Zbigniew of Olesnica) with
suffixes -ski, -cki and -dzki. A separate
class of surnames is constituted by names derived of the names of szlachtas
coats of arms. These are used either as separate names or the first part of a
double-barrelled name. This way persons named Jan Nieczuja and Krzysztof
Nieczuja-Machocki might be related. Similarly, after World War I and World War
II many members of the underground organizations adopted their war-time
pseudonyms as the first part of their surnames. This way Edward Rydz became
the later Marshal of Poland Edward Smigly-Rydz and Jan Nowak became Jan
Nowak-Jezioranski. This content was
brought to you by Wikipedia , and it must be used in accordance with the GNU. |
Links To Sites of Interest
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